The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-04-13
THE PAN HANDLE ARRESTS.
Certain Conviction Awaiting Most oi
Them-HOw Men Were Tempted.

| wholesale arrests of the employees of the
Pan Handle route for robbing freight
trains continues to be the principal topic
of conversation among railroad men and
the citizens generally. Superintendent
Taylor's office was besieged from early
morning by men i'm search of employ
ment They fiocked to the depot so fast
that a line of them extended outside of
the Office waiting for their applications
for situations as freight conductors or
brakemen to be heard. Many were given
equipped and there is no delay in the
movement of freight. No arrests have
been reported since last night. Ii is
thought that the officials of the
road are satisfied with the work of the
detectives and that no more arrests will
| probable conviction of the men now
in Jail, Special Agent Rue said this
morning that of sixty men now under ar
rest there We're not more than one or
two of them who stood any chance of
| being shown not guilty.
|
complete that we did not make an arrest
until we had sufficient praOf To show
that every man was guilty. We expect
to make eight or ten arrests of men who
worked the road successfully for time
| and then, for fear of detention, took pO-
sitions on other line This will swell the
total number of arrests to sixty-eight or
seventy.
TAKEN AWAY FROM HIS DYING CHILD.
Rue said the saddest case in connec-
whose child was dying. When the Off
GERS knocked at the door of his home
Sunday night, he was sitting with his
wife by the bedside of the sick child.
He appeared a man of more than ordi-
nary Intelligence and his home had an
air of refinement. When the officers told
the man they had a warrant for his ar
rest he seemed to realize at once the dis
grace into which he had fallen and broke
down completely.
The capture of j. r. Dunlap, at Denni-
son, Ohio. yesterday, particularly pleased
the detective. He made a confession in
which he said that the steal
ing had been going on for some months.
He said he could give the names of
all the men implicated on the Pittsburg
Division but was afraid, saying: II
would give you the names, officers: but.
Great God they would kill me-
WAS THERE AN ORGANIZATIONS
There was no organization among the
robbers, Dunlap said, and no regular
plan of work Each crew works by itself.
Ii was common understanding that
every man should take all ne could dis
pose of 10 the best advantage. There
Were a number of ''principals,' that
name fling applied to those who reaped
the largest benefits from the robberies by
giving others pointers as to what ears
contained most goods. These persons
We're generously remembered by the less
prominent thieves after the plunder had
been disposed of. The fences, Dunlapsaid
were located in New Philadelphia, Denni-
son. Steubenville, Cincinnati. Pittsburg
and Columbus.
Notwithstanding Dunlap's confession.
the officers of the road still believe that
the plunderers were thoroughly organiz-
ed and were carrying on their robberies
under the systematic direction of shrewd
leaders. When a new man entered the
service of the road if he was thought
the right kind of a fellow. he was inita-
ted into the gang with a rigid oath bind
ing him to secrecy. After he had been
inflated, it was easy enough to keep him
in check if he began To feel any pangs of
conscience; it was broadly limited to
him that any wrong move would result
disastrously as railroading furnished
first-class, opportunities for putting
men out of the way. Young
men from the country who Were
just beginning to run on the road were
the easiest prey. They could soon he
persuaded that there was nothing wrong
about stealing from rich railroad com
panies. Being unused to the tricks of
the old heads they necessarily lead ON
until they were so deep in the tolls they
could not get out if they wanted to.
PROVIDED WITH DYNAMITE.
While rumaging through the effects
of one of the ringleaders this morning.
Special Officer Miller discovered a pack
age containing six dynamite cartridges
sufficient to blow up the largest building
in town. The discovery created con
siderable alarm, and the cartridges were
handled very carefully. Further ex-
animation disclosed lot of fuse and
caps, in fact all the necessary parapher-
MALTA for the successful firing of
cartridges. Immediately after the find
ing of the dynamite an investigation
was begun, the result of which. how
ever, the detectives refused to make pub
lie. They even declined to give the
name of the man in whose room the
stuff was found. The officer intimated
that the object of the robber in securing
dynamite was known and that it would
make good reading when the proper